Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold

The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold was the paramilitary wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany during the Interwar period. Named for the colors of the flag of the Weimar Republic, the group defended parliamentary democracy from both the communists and fascists during the November Revolution and the following years; the group fought the Communist Party of Germany's Red Front Fighters League and the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung. In 1933, the paramilitary was disbanded after the Reichstag fire and Hitler's outlawing of the SPD, but it was reformed as an educational organization in West Germany in 1953.